The Fourth Sunday of Advent

December 23, 2012

CHRISTMAS MESSAGE December 25, 2012 HOSPITALITY: MAKING ROOM AT THE INN
One of my favorite Christmas books is William Kurelek's A Northern Nativity: Christmas Dreams of a Prairie Boy. The book is a collection of paintings, each depicting Jesus' birth in a different place in Canada during the Depression in the 1930's. The Christ child is shown being born into our world in its simplicity and poverty in an igloo in the Arctic, a boxcar of a train, and a First Nations trapping hut; in the straw of an abandoned barn, a small town garage, and a quiet alcove of an unheated grain elevator. In a beautiful meditation in the books preface, he raises some very pertinent questions: If it happened here as it happened there; if it happened now as it happened then... Who would have seen the miracle? Who would have brought gifts? Who would have taken Them in? If it happened there, why not here? If it happened then, why not now? Christmas, then, is not primarily the commemoration of a birth that happened two thousand years ago however important, however miraculous. It is about a birth that is waiting to happen in us. Yet there is much that gets in the way of this birth. Fr. Ron Rolheiser expresses it well: Putting Christ back into Christmas is often connected with protests against commercialism: decorations, sales, parties, and Santa. But this misses the main point. Putting Christ back into Christmas involves, first of all, creating a space for hospitality wherein Christ can be born. I have always been struck, reading the Christmas story, at the unbelievable act of the innkeeper. Who could turn away Joseph and Mary? Who could refuse someone pregnant with God? The story doesnt suggest that the innkeeper was malicious or inhospitable. It doesnt even mention an innkeeper! It says only that there was no room in the inn. No room! Booked up! No space for hospitality! It is not our shopping, decorating, or partying that deprive Christ of a place, in and of themselves. It is our busyness, our preoccupations, and our agendas. These fill the inn, and leave no place for him. Our hearts and lives are too full for Christ to find a place. We are not bad people. Beneath all the hurries and pressures, our hearts are warm and welcoming. But we dont let out ourselves go there. Because we havent the time - because we dont make the time there isnt enough space in our lives for Christ. If we are here today, it is because we know that deep down, there is a space in us that can only be filled by God, by the coming of Christ, Emmanuel, God-with-us. All God asks of us in return is real time, and real space. To have Christ in our lives, to put him back into Christmas, is more than just protesting commercialism. It means making time for him: for the poor, for hospitality, for celebration, for prayer, for family, for the homeless couple who come unannounced on a busy night. So that our Christmas may be truly happy, truly holy let us make room at the inn! MERRY CHRISTMAS & A HAPPY NEW YEAR! CHRISTMAS SCHEDULE 2012 December 24 Family Mass with Pageant at 7:30 PM Midnight Mass at 10:00 PM Christmas Day Masses at 8:30 & 11:00 AM
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New Years Eve at 4:00 PM Mary the Mother of God (January 1st) at 8:30 and 11:00 AM

Mass Intentions December 23-30, 2012

4:00 December 22, 2012 Anna & Italo Mariani & Italo Falcone Bernadette Boudreau December 23, 2012 Advent Saturday Luisa & Angelo Falcone

Christmas Holiday Office hours

The parish office will be closed from noon on Friday, December 21st until January 3rd 2013 at 9:00 AM In Case of Emergencies please leave a message and someone will call you back shortly.

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7:30 10:00 8:30 11:00

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Mary Maloney The Fourth Sunday of Advent Antonio Bei His Wife Gabriella Bei Luigi & Antonio Onesi Settimia Onesi & Family Paolo Ciccarelli Beata Ricci & Family Maria Lonardo Aiello Her Husband Carmelo Liberato & Maria Di Ioia Their sister Anna Di Ioia Bruno Fiori The Zilli Family Christmas Eve For the intentions of all Parishioners For the intentions of all Parishioners Christmas Day For the intentions of all Parishioners For the intentions of all Parishioners December 26, 2012 Wednesday, St. Stephen, Deacon and First Martyr Sr. Dorothy Lehman, CND Deacon Bernie, Lillian & Timothy Glover December 27, 2012 Thursday, St. John, Apostle & Evangelist Sanda Onesi Settimia Onesi & Family Theresa Myreck Deacon Dennis & Linda Stimpson December 28, 2012 Friday, The Holy Innocents Robert Di Giacomo The Family December 29, 2012 St. Thomas Becket Amelia Brocca Her Family Bernadette Boudreau Connie McLaughlin December 30, 2012 The Holy Family Nazzareno Michetti Rosa & Luigi Salvati Mariangelo Battista His daughter Jose Battista Libero Fontana His daughter-in-law Jose Battista Giuseppina Fiori Her children Ramsay Archer His wife Dolores

Thank you to those who participated in our 2012 toy drive. Once again, your generosity was truly overwhelming.

The St. Vincent De Paul Team

would like to thank all the parishioners who helped to make our Christmas Basket Project so successful this year. We are most grateful for your generous contributions of food and financial assistance that enabled us to serve close to 100 individuals and families this year. We could not have done it without your generous help. God bless you all and have a joy-filled Christmas.

Collection Envelopes
The 2013 collection envelopes are ready on the tables in the back of the church. Please take only the box with your name/number on it. If you are not sure of your number, there are two folders at the back of the church, the green folder contains a list by NAME, the yellow folder is listed by NUMBER. If you do not find your number, please speak to Deacon Bernie at the back of the church, or at the office during the week. NOTE: If you are already using envelopes and your name does not appear on the list, please talk to Deacon Bernie as soon as possible.

FAITH FIRST & LITTLE GIFTS

Faith First and Little Gifts are now on a three week holiday break. Our programs will resume on the weekend of January 12/13, 2013.

Thank you for supporting your parish Last weeks collection was: $3,248.50